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The drought will slash Australia's summer crop production to its
lowest level in more than 20 years.

After running a scythe through the winter grain harvest, the big
dry is set to take a huge toll on water-intensive summer crops like
cotton and rice.

The federal government's rural economic forecaster, the
Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE)
says 2006-07 summer crop production will fall 59 per cent to 1.9
million tonnes - the smallest haul since 1982-83.

Rice production will plummet 90 per cent to just 106,000 tonnes,
and cotton production will be down 42 per cent at 250,000
tonnes.

ABARE is tipping grain sorghum production to fall 51 per cent to
996,000 tonnes.

Severe cuts to water allocations were taking a toll on
Australia's thirsty cotton and rice sectors, ABARE said.

"In both industries, growers have been abandoning parts of their
crops and using their reduced water allocations on smaller areas in
an effort to maximise returns from the remaining crops," ABARE's
quarterly crop report said.

The lack of irrigation water for rice has cut plantings to
12,000 hectares - down 89 per cent on last year.

The area sown to cotton is down 57 per cent from 2005-06 at
143,000 hectares, the smallest planting since 1983-84.

Grain sorghum will be hit hard by the drought, with the total
area planted expected to fall by half to an estimated 427,000
hectares.

"Early sown crops have been severely moisture-stressed in most
areas, except where isolated storms have fallen," the report
said.

ABARE increased its estimates marginally for the completed
winter grain harvest, but the crop will still be the smallest in
more than a decade.

Wheat production is estimated at 9.8 million tonnes, down 61 per
cent on the previous season.

Barley production fell by 62 per cent to 3.7 million tonnes, and
the canola harvest dropped 64 per cent to 513,000 tonnes.

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Rice farmers are feeling the effects of the drought, with dire forecasts for summer crop production figures.